Arc System Works Plans To Bring Othello to U.S. eShop

The easy-to-learn title offers strategic gameplay at a low price.

Players with an interest for classical board games might be interested to learn that Othello is soon coming to the Nintendo Switch. Othello is the trademarked name of what was previously known around the world as Reversi, a strategy board game involving two-tone game pieces that is won by dominating the game board.

For the uninitiated, the game's rules are very simple: pieces must be placed adjacent to pieces of opposing colors, and any game piece that becomes sandwiched between two opposing colors will be "flipped" to the present player's color. By carefully managing their pieces, players' goals are to have the majority of the board covered with pieces of their own color. Though simple to learn, the game is highly strategic in play, which is why worldwide Othello competitions have been held to as far back as 1977.

While it might be far from what many would consider a must-play Nintendo Switch experience, Othello does have its appeal: unlike many old-styled games in the Switch's currently library (looking at you, Bomberman-R), Othello has a modest asking price of just $4.99. In addition, up to 2 players can play the game at once using the Switch's Joy-Con controllers, and the game offers up 16 different single-player difficulty levels. It may not be too flashy, but the game stands to offer simple pick-up-and-play action that could be well-suited for the down time between heavy bouts of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Othello is out now in European countries, and Arc System Works has plans to bring Othello to the U.S. at an unknown later date. No worries if you're feeling impatient, though, because we've got a handy guide that will help you download Nintendo Switch games from other countries.